Chapter: Stargazer Lilies and Blue Irises
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….. A Week Later: …..
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Holding Annabelle's hand in her right hand, Octavia carried a basket in her left hand. Her pale sea foam green eyes scanned over the vegetables on the stand. Octavia eyes landed on the green peppers.
"Belle, would you please hand mommy one of the plastic baggies." Octavia said with a smile.
The five year old was holding a bundle of the plastic baggies that vegetables and fruit usually go in. Anabelle held one out to Octavia, who smiled then turned to the green peppers to pick a few out.
"Now, some rosemary and parsley." Octavia said as she put the green peppers into the basket.
"Making homemade sauce?"
A familiar voice said from behind causing Octavia to turn around to face the voice.
"Hello, Mr. Rossi."
"Please, Dave or Rossi. No formalities." The SSA FBI agent smiled.
"Then you may call me Octavia."
"And what shall I call you?" Rossi looked down at the five year old, who hid behind Octavia's legs.
"Annabelle." Annabelle said shyly with a matching shy, small grin.
"Annabelle. What a beautiful name for a princess."
"I'm not a princess." Annabelle stepped out from behind Octavia's legs, but she grabbed hold of Octavia's left hand.
Octavia watched the exchange between the FBI agent and the five year old with clear amusement. She knew that from Rossi biography that during his three failed marriages, there were no children. His job was a huge part of his life and not much free time. But his job was a hard one where he saw all sorts of horrific crime scenes. Octavia knew that Annabelle and even she must be a breath of fresh air of being normal and not a part of his work life.
"Oh really now? Then what are you?" Rossi asked Annabelle with raised eyebrows as he tried to fight off a smile.
"I'm an Empress."
"An Empress?" Rossi eyebrow rose as he turned to look at Octavia, who was biting her bottom lip.
"My grandfather is a classic professor where he moved from Italy to here. He will tell stories to this little one about Rome and the society. All that lovely historic stories that I listened to also when I was growing up." Octavia explained to Rossi as he nodded, now knowing what Annabelle meant.
"Your grandfather must've had a blast with your name."
"He insisted my father to name me after a Roman emperor's wife or some sort of unique Roman name. Trust me when I say that I got the history facts of my name." Octavia said with a dull tone.
"Are you the Major or Minor of Octavia?" Rossi smirked.
Octavia let out a breathless laugh before looking around to find where the rosemary and parsley were located.
"Minor." Octavia answered, looking back at him with a grin.
"Mommy, what's he asking?"
"Something grandpa would talk about in his lectures." Octavia told Annabelle.
"Oh, those." Annabelle made a face to show that she clearly knew about her grandfather's rants about ancient history.
That got Rossi to laugh with Octavia at Annabelle's comment.
"If you excuse us, we need to find the rosemary and parsley. I can't wait to get my garden going again." Octavia said softly.
"Here." Rossi held out a plastic baggie with fresh rosemary in it.
"No, those are yours."
"Just take it."
"But—"
"Here." Rossi held it out to Annabelle now making the five year old to look up at Octavia.
Octavia only nodded making Annabelle to grab the bag from Rossi.
"Thank you." Annabelle said, holding the bag close to her.
"You're welcome." Rossi grinned before looking up to stare Octavia.
"You saw that I was collecting certain herbs and good amount of tomatoes. You either knew I was looking for these certain herbs or heard me mentioned what I needed. Grabbing the herbs that I needed to confront me face to face to talk and know me more. Thanks for the herbs, Rossi." Octavia explained as she stared at smirking Rossi with narrowed eyes.
"Seems like I'm not the only one that has good observation skills."
"I'm a doctor, I have to be observant. See you later." Octavia said, walking away while holding Annabelle's hand.
"Why do you think I would do that?" Rossi asked before Octavia completely vanished from his view.
"Like I said, for you to talk to me."
"What about dinner? I'll cook." Rossi asked, not realizing what he had just asked until it was too late.
For the past week, all Rossi could think about was Octavia Draco. He even looked her up online to see who she was as an individual. This woman had caught his attention when she first stepped into the examination room. What Rossi felt towards Octavia foreign. An unknown feeling to him, which made him want to know more about her.
"I know who you are, Rossi. I know what you did and do. You have to do better and try again. Good day, Rossi." Octavia winked as she finally vanished from his view.
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….. Few Hours Later: …..
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"Mommy."
"Yes, Belle?" Octavia replied.
Octavia was focusing on the homemade red sauce that she was making in a pot that she will soon pour on top of the stuffed shells.
"Who was that man earlier? He seemed nice."
Octavia glanced at Annabelle once again and stared at the five year old staring back at her. Even though Annabelle was five years old, the little girl was good when it came to who to trust and who not to trust. She was good at judging people for her age too.
"His name is David Rossi and he works for the FBI." Octavia answered.
"You mean like an officer?"
"Something like that, but has a bit more power. He would be higher up in the hierarchy."
"Oh. He seemed like a nice man mommy." Annabelle told her.
"What are you saying, Belle?" Octavia asked as she shut off the stove and set the wooden spoon aside on a plate to not get sauce on the marble countertop.
"Just he seems like he likes you."
A low chuckle escaped Octavia as she couldn't believe how her little one was so observant. Octavia looked at Annabelle, who was humming a random tune underneath her breath.
"He's an interesting individual, Belle. One that we will be seeing in the future."
"Why?" Annabelle asked as she stared at Octavia.
"Because he seems to be the type that never gives up."
Octavia pulled out stuff shells from the oven to set down on top of the oven. She poured the homemade red sauce over the stuff shells before sprinkling some cheese on top and then slid the pan back in the oven to cook some more. Turning away from the oven, Octavia moved to the refrigerator to grab the jug of iced tea.
Grabbing glasses, Octavia handed them to Annabelle, who took them to the dining room to set on the placemats where they always ate. Octavia brought the jug of iced tea to the table.
About twenty minutes, Annabelle and Octavia sat at the dining room table, enjoying the stuffed shells.
"How is it?" Octavia asked as she cut into another shell to stab a small piece of it while rubbing it in the red sauce.
"Mmmhmm." Annabelle hummed, nodding her head with a grin.
"Good." Octavia nodded.
Moments like these, Octavia enjoyed cooking, but enjoyed cooking dinner while having family time with Annabelle.
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….. Next Day: …..
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Sitting in her office, Octavia was looking over a few files of her patients. As Octavia went to flip through another file about a patient complaining about rashes, her office phone began to ring.
Setting down the file, Octavia reached out to the office phone. The caller name ID was unknown, but the number was listed. Hitting the green button, she brought the phone up to her right ear.
"Hello, this is Dr. Octavia Draco."
"Hello, Dr. Draco. This is SSA David Rossi."
Octavia mouth dropped a little, but she then let out a small amused laugh. She couldn't believe he called here. But she wonder why.
"Hello, Agent Rossi. What can I do for you?" Octavia asked.
"I got a question for you. I'm actually on a case right now and I needed a doctor's advice to see if we have this correct. So, I thought about you as our second confirmer."
"Oh, how I feel honor. What do you wish to ask?" Octavia replied with a grin as Rossi chuckled on the line.
"Can you explain more about what succinylcholine is? The coroner also found a needle mark in neck behind the ear area or the back of the neck. These were suicide victims too. Would this cause neuromuscular blockage?"
"Succinylcholine or also known as Suxamethonium chloride usually causes the body to go into a numbing state. It causes the muscles to temporarily become so relax to the point of being paralyzed making the user enable to move. There's also other drugs like Rocuronium bromide which is also injection and Vecuronium bromide. There's all sorts of drugs that work as anesthesia agents." Octavia explained to him.
Hearing Rossi mumbled in the speaker, her head tilted to the side as she tried to listen to what he mumbled to himself.
"What was that?" Octavia asked him.
"Just about how these victims were connected to their children that were killed in a building fire. Now these parents are being found committing suicide, but something is off, especially with this drug within their systems. Then again, injecting within the system before they were placed in their position would cause them to be in the killer's hands to do whatever."
"Most likely yes. Enough within their system would cause them to be unable to do their own actions. They would be like puppets in the hands of whoever is doing this to them. Most of these neurotics causes skeletal muscles relaxation. Some have the properties that would be use in the pregnancy room." Octavia said, picking up a pen to twirl between her fingertips.
"Yes..."
Hearing Rossi pause making Octavia to speak out to see why he paused.
"What else would you like to say, Rossi?"
"Well, since you helped me, let me treat you to dinner when I come back from this case."
Octavia knew that Rossi would ask her that. She rolled her eyes, but an amused grin appeared on her lips as she knew that Rossi will not give up until she says 'yes' to him.
"Try again another time. See you later, Rossi." Octavia said making him to sigh, but let out a low chuckle.
"Yes, I will see you later, Octavia. Good day and thank you for your insight."
"Welcome, bye, bye for now." Octavia said then hung up the office phone while shaking her head.
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"Who was that?"
Rossi flipped his cell phone shut, but looked up at SSA Derek Morgan, one of the BAU profilers, who stood in front of Rossi with his powerful arms crossed over his chest and eyeing Rossi with raised eyebrows.
"A friend."
"Really? A friend that you asked out for dinner upon helping you with medical information." Derek eyed Rossi with narrowed eyes as he knew something was up since Rossi had been grinning a lot as he talked on the phone with that particular friend.
"Yes."
"Uh-huh." Morgan nodded, not believing Rossi about this just being a 'friend.'
"Let's get back to focusing on this case." Rossi said.
All the while, Rossi thought of ways to get Octavia to accept something from him. Just the thought of Octavia accepting something from him, an idea did come into Rossi mind that made him to grin as he knew that Octavia will have to accept it.
With a smirk, Rossi slid on his sunglasses and walked out of a house to walk back to the SUV.
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….. Next Day: …..
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A knock on the office door made Octavia to look up while softly saying a 'come in.'
Octavia eyes glanced up from her laptop screen as the door open up. Her eyebrows rose when Missy came in with a wide smile and stepped aside.
It was a delivery man with a large bouquet of flowers. A mixture of Stargazer lilies and blue iris within a clear square glass vase. The man set the flowers on top of her desk and held out a clipboard. Octavia signed it and the delivery man left.
Plucking a small lavender color envelope from the bouquet, Octavia slipped the small card out that had a few written words in cursive.
'Glorious flowers for a charming lady.'
A small grin appeared on Octavia's lips. She set the small card aside while gazing back at the beautiful flowers. She reached up to run her right fingertips across the petals.
Not alone, Octavia looked up to see Missy standing in the doorway with raised eyebrows.
"What?"
"Who's the admirer?"
"Just a very determine man."
"A certain FBI agent that is also known to be a popular author?"
Octavia stayed quiet in her seat. Missy gave a small nod as she knew that she was right. The older medical assistant left the office after that.
"You are determine, Rossi, I will give you that. Beautiful flowers too." Octavia whispered while continue to stare at the large bouquet of flowers.
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….. Few Days Later: …..
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When the BAU team finished the case, they arrived back in the early morning.
Rossi walked up the small set of stairs that led up to a small balcony that held Hotchner and his office.
Pulling out a set of keys from his go-bag, Rossi unlocked his office and stepped in. He went to his desk where he sat down to shut his eyes for a moment.
Tired, Rossi knew he needed to get into his bed. Rossi stood up from his seat, grabbed his go-bag, and he went to leave the office when someone stepped in.
"Agent Rossi?" A young man asked.
"Yes?" Rossi answered, staring at the young man curiously.
"You got a delivery from a Dr. Octavia Draco." The young man held out a small box making Rossi to accept the box from him.
Once the box was out of the young man's hands, he left Rossi in his office. Rossi set his go-bag down as he walked back over to his desk. Rossi used one of keys to slice through the tape to open up the small box. Pushing the tissue paper away, Rossi reached into the box to pull out a sterling silver figurine of an angel with hands held out in a helping gesture.
Finding a small note with a small pin of angel wings on them, Rossi unclipped the small sterling silver angel wing pin from the note before he read it.
'To a man that walks amongst the shadows to protect others.'
A small grin appeared onto Rossi lips as he caressed the small winged pin before sliding it into his jacket pocket. He picked up the angel figurine and set the figurine on his desk next to his lamp, so that whenever he turned on the light, it shined down on the sterling silver angel figurine.
Throwing the box into the trash next to his door, Rossi picked his go-bag back up again and this time, walked out of his office. Locked behind him, he tucked his left hand in his suit coat pocket where he caressed the angel wings as he walked out of the area to the elevator.
Entering the elevator, Rossi hit the main floor button where he was left alone in the elevator to think.
To think that Octavia got the flowers, she sent a gift back. The thought made Rossi to grin as he thought how Octavia wasn't ignoring him. Instead, Octavia accepted his gifts and sent her own gift to show that she was interested in some way. Rossi won't give up as he wasn't the type to give up on anything.
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Hi Everyone,
Here's another chapter.
I had to do some medical research so sorry if I got anything wrong or whatnot.
I wish and hope you enjoy this chapter and this story.
Thank You!
